Valve device.



No; 629,249. Patented July I8, |a99.

. P. K. HARDIN.

VALVE DEVICE.

. (Application filed Aug. 20, 1898.)

(No Modal.)

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PATENT OFFICE."

PATRICK K. HARDIN, oFoHIoAco, ILLINOIS,

VALVEVDEVICEI SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed August 20,1898- To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatLPArRrcK K. HARDIN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and 5 State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to valve devices and in particular to fluid-valves adapted for usein regulating the flow of fluids under pressure. Y Prominent objects of my invention are as follows, viz: to arrange for the automatic 1 closure of the valve upon the removal of the force which has opened it and for itsautomatic maintenance in a closed condition; to utilize the fluid under pressure as the sole agency in thus causing the automatic closure of the valve and maintaining the same in a no closed condition; to renderit impossible to tie or wedge or otherwise hold the valve open, except by the direct application of the opening force; to simplify the construction of the de-' vice as much as'poss ible, and in so'doing to 2 5 dispense with all undesirable appliancessuch as levers, handles, eccentrics, stuffingboxes, springs, washers, and the like-inits construction; to absolutely prevent pounding or hammering in the closing of the device; to render it impossible for the fluid or other matter under regulation to injure orinconvenience the hand or hands in operating the valve; to allow access to the interior of r the valve and the removal, repair, or replacement of parts therein while the device is attached for service and in open communication with the fluid under pressure; to render unnecessary the use of tools, wrenches, and the like in thus gaining access to the interior of the device and also in attaching it to thepipeor main for service and detaching it from the same; to avoid the use of rubber or like mate? rial on or in connection with thevalve-seat; to prevent rot, decay, corrosion, and the like 5 within the device and also to prevent injurie ous results from the effects upon it of varia tions in the temperature, nature, or composition of the fluid under regulation, and to ac- .complish the above-mentioned results in a so simple, economical, effective, and inexpensive manner.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other Patent No. 629,249, dated July 18, 1899.

Serial No. 689,162. (No model.)

desirable'ends myinvention consists of mat ters hereinafter fully set forth.

, In the'accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partlyin longitudinal section,of a valve device embodying my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are crosssections of the same, taken on lines 2 2 and 3 3, respectively, in Fig. 1 and Fig. tis a view of a detail of construction.

In the drawings I have illustrated my in vention applied to a basin-cock that is to say,

to a cook or faucet particularly adapted for use in connection with washbasins. Idesire it to be understood, however, that in so doing I do not intend to limit the invention to that application of it, for it can be applied equally well to any one of a great variety of valves, cocks, faucets, and the like having many and diversified uses.

In thus illustrating my invention embodied in a basin-cock I exhibit an operative device and at the same time afford an illustration of one ofthe many uses to which it is particularly and peculiarly adapted.

Injthe arrangement illustrated in the drawings the water or other fluid under pressure is supplied from any suitable source by way I of a supply-pipe P. Thence it flows into a valve-chamber G, which forms the lower end of, the basin-cock,and communicates with the interior of the supply-pipe? by way of a suitable passage or. opening 9 at its lower end. The valve chamber is conveniently provided by a suitable shell or casing G, preferably of cast metal, such as brass, while the passage or opening g into the supply-pipe P is conveniently provided by a neck g, formed at the lower end of the shell or casing G.

The shell or casing G, providing the valvechamber G, is shown attached to the supplypipe P by a suitable coupling m, Which'is arranged to'screw over the threaded end of the supply-pipe P and also over the neck 9' of the shell or casing G.-

The fluid under regulation is controlled so as to allow or prevent its passage or flow from the valve-chamber G by means of a suitable outlet or port N, arranged at the upper end of such chamber, and a valve F, adapted to cooperate with an outwardly-facing valveseat H, formed at the end of such po'rtN,so as to open and close the latter. (By'anf out- 'wardly-facing valve'seat is meant one which faces the fluid as the latter approaches it.) In this way the valve F will always be forced in the direction of flow of the fluid and so will be continually subjected to pressure or force tending to force and hold it against or upon its seat. As a result the port N, and therefore the device, will normally and auto matically maintain itself in a closed condition, except when the valve F is subjected to pressure sufficient to force it away from its valve-seat, and will automatically close itself upon the removal of such pressure.

Any suitable type or construction of valve could be employed, as the valve F, for thus automatically closing the port N and retaining the same closed by the action of the fluid in the device. I desirably employ a ballvalve, however, such as is shown in the drawings, for the reason that it is simple, inexpensive, and efficient and very difficult to injure and very easy to repair or replace.

The ball F is desirably made larger than the inlet-passage g of the valve-chamber G,

ging the latter is removed.

in which way all danger of its falling into the supply-pipe P and so becoming lost or clog- The ball F could be made of any suitable material, such as rubber or thelike; but as a matter of speciiic improvement I construct it of cork. By so doing I avoid the necessity of employing washers, packing, or the like upon the valveseat, as the cork naturally makes atight joint in seating itself. At the same time I provide avalve which will float and so assist the fluidpressure in causing the automatic closure of the device and will, in fact, cause such automatic closure by its floating qualities, even though the fluid-pressure be so light as to be almost negligible. The ball F could be depressed so as to open the port N and allow the flow of the fluid under regulation by any suitable mechanism adapted for the purpose. As a preferred arrangement, however, it is operated by the mechanism illustrated in the drawings, which mechanism I consider a matter of further and specific improvement.

The mechanism illustrated involves a reciprocating plunger E, which is positioned above the valve-chamber G and has its lower end or foot normally resting upon the ball F, so that its depression to a greater or less degree instantaneously causes a corresponding depression of the ball F and opening of the port N.

The plunger E is confined and reciprocates within a suitable substantially cylindric plu nger-chamber L, arranged above the valvechamber G. To preventits wabbling or invides the port N and valve-seat II by having the same formed at its lower end. his suitably attached to the upper end of the casing G, as by being screw-threaded thereto, as shown, in which way it can be readily and easily attached and detached. It is desirably composed of metal, preferably brass, and when so composed can be easily made by casting the metal into the desired shape or form.

The too sudden seating of the valve F, and therefore the hammering or pounding Within the device, is prevented by subjecting the valve F to the influence of an air-cushion A, which operates to retard or dampen its upward movement when it has been released from its opening pressure and is being acted upon by the fluid to automatically close the device. As a simple and convenient arrangement the air-cushion A is formed by the air within a suitable air-bulb A. desirably positioned above and screw-connected with the plunger-casing O, in which way it can be easily and quickly and without the use of tools attached for service and dc tached in order to permit access to the plunger E or the removal and replacement thereof, as desired.

While the valve-actuating plunger E could be actuated so as to depress the valve F by any suitable means, it is as a matter of specific improvement actuated by a push-spindle B, havingapush-bntton O, which can be readily depressed by the fingers or thumb and which is arranged so that when so depressed it correspondingly depresses the plunger E and the valve F. In this way the device can be opened simply by the pressure of one or more of the fingers or of the thumb and can be held open as long as desired by such pres- The latter is loo sure; also, when such opening pressure is removed the elevation of the valve F and the plunger E will operate to restore the push button 0 to its original position. As a convenient arrangement the push-button O is arranged to work in a suitable opening formed .interposition of a flexible and elastic diaphragm D in such position as to exclude the fluid from access to the opening. As a simple arrangement the diaphragm D is positioned between the upper end of the plunger E and the lower end of. the push-spindle B, and when so positioned causes the air-cushion A to act upon the plunger E and therethrough upon the valve F. To promote efficient action and also to prevent puncture of the diaphragm D, the lower end'of the pushspindle B and the upper end of the plunger E are respectively provided with slightlyconvex heads B and I. The diaphragm D is IIO desirably held in positionby interposition,be-

tween the lower edge of the air-bulb A and the upper edge of the plunger-casingO, in

which way it can be easily reached or removed and replaced by unscrewing the air bulb A. The diaphragmrD can be made of any suitable flexible and elastic material,-

such as substantially pure rubber, rainbowpacking, and the like.

boxes and the like is avoided, and at the same time the temperature of the fluid is not communicated to the push-button G, and so no inconvenience is experienced by reason of the latter being too hot or cold for comfort.

From the plunger-chamber L, into which it passes from the ports N, the fluid can flow into any suitable pipe or other device, in accordance with the use to which the device is put. In the basin-cock illustrated it passes into a suitable nozzle or spout R, which is attached to and at one side of theaplunger-casing 0 in any well-known way.

It will be understoodxthat certain changes, alterations, or variations could be made in the construction herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the in vention.

It will be seen that myinvention provides an efiective, simple, and inexpensive device,"

and contains the various advantages sought for in devices of its class.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. A valve device comprising a casing providing an inlet-chamber; a ball-valve controlling the outlet of said chamber; a reciprocating plunger acting against the ball-valve; a casing containing the plunger and serving as a guide to insure the proper reciprocation thereof; a flexible and elastic diaphragm It will be seen thatby this arrangement the necessity of stuffing which is secured in position to rest upon the upper end of the plunger, but which is not secured or attached-thereto a casing providing an air-chamber above the diaphragm and a loose push-spindle arranged within the easing providing theair-chamber, and having its upper end extended through the top of said casing, and its lower end acting upon the plunger through the medium of the diaphragm.. 2. A valve device comprising a casing providing an inlet-chamber; a ball-valve controlling the outlet of said chamber; a reciprocating plunger acting against the ball-valve and provided with a convex disk-shaped head and also with laterally-extending webs below said head a casing detachably secured to the of the casing containing the plunger, and which holds the diaphragm in position by clamping the same between itself and the last-mentioned casing; and a loose pushspindle arranged within the casing providing the air-chamber and having the upper end upper end of the inlet-casing and provided extended through the top of said casing, and

the lower end acting upon the plunger through the medium of the diaphragm and guided by a guide formed at the lower end of said casin g. Signed by me, at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day of August, 1898.

v PATRICK K. HARDIN.

Witnesses:

A. MIL ER BELFIELD, L. A. GARDINER. 

